Checked 25 September 2026. Seats from Tables 4a and 4b, hostels from Table 4c, of the August 2026 booklet; the list changes every batch (the February 2026 list differed). Check the February 2027 booklet before filling preferences.
C-DAC's courses are taught at two kinds of centre: C-DAC's own centres (thirteen in the August 2026 booklet) and Authorised Training Centres (ATCs) — private institutes such as Sunbeam, IACSD and Know-IT that teach the same programme, sit the same central examinations and take students from the same C-CAT rank list. In the August 2026 batch they held 5,740 seats between them. Here is where they are.
Where other pages get this wrong
There is no reliable centre-wise cut-off list — the ones online contradict each other.
Commonly published instead: "C-DAC cutoff 2025: ACTS Pune below 200, Sunbeam Pune below 650…" and similar tables.
C-DAC publishes no closing ranks. The lists that circulate are unsourced or, by their own admission, based on student reviews from years ago — one says so of its "2025" figures, which it attributes to the August 2022 batch. Two of the most copied lists disagree on whether ACTS Pune or Sunbeam Pune closes first for PG-DAC. The only official cut-off information is what each candidate sees, for vacant seats, inside the second counselling.
Our sums of the August 2026 booklet's seat tables.
Seats by city
Our sums of Tables 4a and 4b. Mumbai includes C-DAC Kharghar (Navi Mumbai).
Pune is the centre of gravity: C-DAC's own ACTS centre plus five ATCs account for 1,970 seats, more than the next three cities together. PGCP-AC is where the choice is widest — it is taught at 26 centre listings — while HPCSA (30 seats, only at ACTS Pune) and RAT (40 seats, only at Kolkata) exist in one place each.
Physical seats
| Centre | Run by | Seats by course | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | C-DAC | AC 240, BDA 120, AI 40, ESD 60, ITISS 60 | 520 |
| Guwahati | C-DAC | AI 40 | 40 |
| Hyderabad | C-DAC | AC 140, BDA 60, AI 40, ESD 120, VLSI 40, CSF 40, ASSD 80 | 520 |
| Kochi | C-DAC | AC 40 | 40 |
| Kolkata | C-DAC | AC 60, RAT 40 | 100 |
| Mohali | C-DAC | AI 40 | 40 |
| Mumbai (Kharghar) | C-DAC | BDA 90, AI 60 | 150 |
| New Delhi | C-DAC | BDA 40 | 40 |
| Noida | C-DAC | AC 160, BDA 60, AI 60, ITISS 40, VLSI 40 | 360 |
| Pune (ACTS) | C-DAC | AC 240, BDA 60, AI 60, ESD 60, ITISS 60, VLSI 40, CSF 40, HPCSA 30 | 590 |
| Thiruvananthapuram | C-DAC | AI 40 | 40 |
| Karad — Sunbeam | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Mumbai — AIT (YCC), Nariman Point | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Mumbai — MET-IIT, Bandra | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Mumbai — VITA, Juhu | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120, BDA 60 | 180 |
| Nagpur — Soft Polynomials | Authorised Training Centre | AC 60 | 60 |
| Nashik — MET-IIT | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Pune — IACSD, Akurdi | Authorised Training Centre | AC 240, BDA 60, ITISS 60 | 360 |
| Pune — IET, Shivajinagar | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Pune — Infoway, Kothrud | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Pune — Know-IT, Deccan | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120, BDA 60 | 180 |
| Pune — Sunbeam, Hinjawadi | Authorised Training Centre | AC 240, BDA 60, ESD 120, ITISS 60, MC 120 | 600 |
Online seats
| Centre | Run by | Seats by course | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chennai | C-DAC | AC 80, BDA 60 | 140 |
| Indore — Orlando Academy | Authorised Training Centre | AC 60 | 60 |
| Kolkata | C-DAC | BDA 60 | 60 |
| Mumbai (Kharghar) | C-DAC | AC 260 | 260 |
| New Delhi | C-DAC | AC 40, AI 40 | 80 |
| New Delhi — Bytes Softech | Authorised Training Centre | AC 120 | 120 |
| Patna | C-DAC | AC 60, AI 60, FBD 60 | 180 |
| Patna — Astric-CoE | Authorised Training Centre | AC 60 | 60 |
| Patna — Career Foresight | Authorised Training Centre | AC 60 | 60 |
| Guwahati | C-DAC | AI 40 | 40 |
| Thiruvananthapuram | C-DAC | AC 40, BDA 40, CSF 60 | 140 |
Course codes: AC Advanced Computing, BDA Big Data Analytics, AI Artificial Intelligence, ESD Embedded Systems, ITISS IT Infrastructure Systems and Security, VLSI, CSF Cyber Security and Forensics, MC Mobile Computing, ASSD Advanced Secure Software Development, HPCSA HPC System Administration, RAT Robotics, FBD FinTech and Blockchain.
Where each course runs
| Course | Seats | Centres (seats) |
|---|---|---|
| PGCP-AC | 3160 | Bengaluru 240; Hyderabad 140; Kochi 40; Kolkata 60; Noida 160; Pune (ACTS) 240; Karad — Sunbeam 120; Mumbai — AIT (YCC), Nariman Point 120; Mumbai — MET-IIT, Bandra 120; Mumbai — VITA, Juhu 120; Nagpur — Soft Polynomials 60; Nashik — MET-IIT 120; Pune — IACSD, Akurdi 240; Pune — IET, Shivajinagar 120; Pune — Infoway, Kothrud 120; Pune — Know-IT, Deccan 120; Pune — Sunbeam, Hinjawadi 240; Chennai 80 (online); Indore — Orlando Academy 60 (online); Mumbai (Kharghar) 260 (online); New Delhi 40 (online); New Delhi — Bytes Softech 120 (online); Patna 60 (online); Patna — Astric-CoE 60 (online); Patna — Career Foresight 60 (online); Thiruvananthapuram 40 (online) |
| PGCP-BDA | 830 | Bengaluru 120; Hyderabad 60; Mumbai (Kharghar) 90; New Delhi 40; Noida 60; Pune (ACTS) 60; Mumbai — VITA, Juhu 60; Pune — IACSD, Akurdi 60; Pune — Know-IT, Deccan 60; Pune — Sunbeam, Hinjawadi 60; Chennai 60 (online); Kolkata 60 (online); Thiruvananthapuram 40 (online) |
| PGCP-AI | 520 | Bengaluru 40; Guwahati 40; Hyderabad 40; Mohali 40; Mumbai (Kharghar) 60; Noida 60; Pune (ACTS) 60; Thiruvananthapuram 40; New Delhi 40 (online); Patna 60 (online); Guwahati 40 (online) |
| PGCP-ESD | 360 | Bengaluru 60; Hyderabad 120; Pune (ACTS) 60; Pune — Sunbeam, Hinjawadi 120 |
| PGCP-ITISS | 280 | Bengaluru 60; Noida 40; Pune (ACTS) 60; Pune — IACSD, Akurdi 60; Pune — Sunbeam, Hinjawadi 60 |
| PGCP-CSF | 140 | Hyderabad 40; Pune (ACTS) 40; Thiruvananthapuram 60 (online) |
| PGCP-VLSI | 120 | Hyderabad 40; Noida 40; Pune (ACTS) 40 |
| PGCP-MC | 120 | Pune — Sunbeam, Hinjawadi 120 |
| PGCP-ASSD | 80 | Hyderabad 80 |
| PGCP-FBD | 60 | Patna 60 (online) |
| PGCP-RAT | 40 | Kolkata 40 |
| PGCP-HPCSA | 30 | Pune (ACTS) 30 |
From Tables 4a and 4b of the August 2026 booklet. The specialist courses are concentrated: every VLSI seat is at C-DAC Hyderabad, Noida or Pune, and a third of the Embedded Systems seats (120 of 360) are at Sunbeam Pune.
Hostel and canteen
| Facility (Aug 2026 booklet) | Centres |
|---|---|
| Hostel and canteen | C-DAC Bengaluru, C-DAC Kharghar, C-DAC Noida, IACSD Pune, MET-IIT Nashik, Sunbeam Karad, Sunbeam Pune |
| Canteen only | AIT (YCC) Mumbai, C-DAC New Delhi, C-DAC Pune, MET-IIT Mumbai, VITA Mumbai |
Rooms are first come, first served, with outstation students given preference; hostel and canteen charges are set by each centre and are not part of the course fee. Notably, C-DAC's own Pune (ACTS) centre lists a canteen but no hostel.
C-DAC centre or ATC?
What is the same, and what is not
- Same: the course, the fee table (the booklet has one fee table for all centres, split only by online and physical), the central mid-course and course-end examinations, and the C-CAT rank list that fills both.
- Different: the faculty, the building, the hostel, and each centre's own placement effort alongside C-DAC's Common Campus Placement Programme.
- Published placement records come from some ATCs themselves (Sunbeam publishes per-batch figures); C-DAC publishes no per-centre rate.
August 2026 booklet §4–§6 and §12.
The circulating "cut-off" lists, side by side
| Centre (PG-DAC) | List A ("below", attributed to Aug 2022 reviews) | List B ("Feb 2025", no source) |
|---|---|---|
| ACTS Pune | 200 | 658 |
| Sunbeam Pune | 650 | 477 |
| Sunbeam Karad | 1,100 | 816 |
| VITA Mumbai | 1,400 | 1,308 |
| C-DAC Kharghar | 2,400 | 1,730 |
Shown only to make the point: two widely copied lists put the same centres in a different order, and List B prints identical figures for two different years. Neither is evidence of where a rank will land. What the lists do agree on — and what the seat table makes obvious — is that a handful of Pune centres fill first and the large centres elsewhere go deeper. Build your preference list on what you want (course, city, hostel), then order it honestly.
Choosing a centre: four questions
- Can you move? Online seats exist only for AC, BDA, AI, CSF and FBD; everything else means living in that city for six months.
- Is there a hostel? Only seven centres list one; the rest leave you to find housing.
- Where do you want to work? C-DAC's common placement drive runs region-wise in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida and Pune.
- What will you do if you are upgraded? A Round 2 upgrade to a higher preference is final within the first counselling (a separate second counselling later fills vacant seats), so order the list as you would really choose.
August 2026 booklet §4, §6 and §16.
Selected changes from the February 2026 batch
| Change | February 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Seats | 5,780 | 5,740 |
| Bhubaneswar (Lakshya, online AC) | 60 seats | Not listed |
| Mohali | No course | 40 AI seats (physical) |
| Kochi PGCP-AC | 90 seats | 40 seats |
| Physical PGCP-CSF | None (online only) | 80 seats (Hyderabad, Pune) |
Practise it, don't just read it
The centre you get is set by your rank. Sections A and B decide it.
The ProSyllabus C-CAT library has topic quizzes for English and Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, Computer Fundamentals, C Programming and Data Structures and OOP — the core of Sections A and B. Each question comes with an explanation.
How many C-DAC centres are there?
The August 2026 booklet lists thirteen C-DAC centres (Bengaluru, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai/Kharghar, New Delhi, Noida, Patna, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram) and Authorised Training Centres in Indore, Karad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, New Delhi, Patna and Pune.
What is the C-DAC cut-off for ACTS Pune?
C-DAC does not publish one. Lists online contradict each other — one puts ACTS Pune below rank 200 for PG-DAC, another at 658 — and at least one admits its figures come from old student reviews.
Is an ATC as good as a C-DAC centre?
The course, fee, central examinations and rank list are the same. Faculty, facilities, hostel and each centre's own placement effort differ, and C-DAC publishes no per-centre placement figures to compare them on.
Which C-DAC centres have a hostel?
In the August 2026 booklet: C-DAC Bengaluru, Kharghar and Noida, IACSD Pune, MET-IIT Nashik, and Sunbeam Karad and Pune. Several others have a canteen only.
How many seats does Sunbeam have?
In August 2026, Sunbeam Pune (Hinjawadi) had 600 seats — AC 240, BDA 60, ESD 120, ITISS 60, MC 120 — and Sunbeam Karad 120 AC seats.
Where is the C-DAC VLSI course offered?
In the August 2026 booklet, at C-DAC Hyderabad, Noida and Pune (ACTS), 40 seats each — 120 in all, and only for Category III candidates.
Are online C-DAC courses cheaper?
Yes, where both modes exist: in the August 2026 booklet (Tables 10a and 10b) PGCP-AC is ₹84,150 + GST online against ₹99,000 + GST physical. 1,200 of the 5,740 August 2026 seats were online.
More in this series
- C-CAT pattern, syllabus and Category II vs III
- Eligibility: which degree opens which C-DAC course
- The twelve C-DAC courses compared
- Counselling rounds, lock/freeze, fees and withdrawal
- A preparation plan for the January 2027 C-CAT
- C-DAC placements: what the data does and does not show
- C-CAT notice board — official updates
Sources
- official — C-DAC ACTS admission booklet, August 2026 batch (v1.0)
- official — C-DAC PG Certificate Programme admission page
- official — C-DAC admission page for the February 2026 batch (archived 19 Jan 2026)
- reported — Sunbeam placement records (published by the ATC itself)
- reported — howrm.blogspot — C-CAT ranks and institutes (student-reported)
- reported — ccatpreparation.online — previous-year cutoffs (unsourced)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
